The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a communication processing apparatus and method, and a computer program. Specifically, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a communication processing apparatus and method, and a computer program, in which it is determined whether or not an object, such as a book or card, exists in a sensor detecting area, so that the internal state of the information processing apparatus is changed according to the identified object. More specifically, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a communication processing apparatus and method, and a computer program, in which startup/exit of an application program and connection/disconnection to/from network can be achieved according to an identified object.
Personal computers are rapidly becoming common in homes, owing to improved performance and lower cost of information processing apparatuses. Most of the personal computers adopt a graphical user interface (GUI) as an interface which is simple and intuitive. In a system using the GUI, a user can operate a computer by selecting an icon or menu with a mouse or pen tablet, instead of inputting a command with a keyboard.
However, even in such a system adopting the GUI as a user interface, users who are not familiar with a computer find it difficult to operate a computer. Considering these circumstances, an intuitive operationality which is friendly for every user has not been developed.
In order to develop an intuitive operationality which is friendly for more users, a real-world-oriented interface (a technique of achieving an intuitive computer operation by using a real physical object), has been studied.
An example of the real-world-oriented interface includes a bar code, two-dimensional code, or radio frequency identification (RFID) attached to a physical object. An RFID tag includes a silicon chip and an antenna used for wirelessly transmitting data. The RFID tag can be attached to any thing and is used as a transmission tag of identification data of an object. A number of RFID tags can be instantaneously read by an RF reader, if the RFID tags are within a detectable range of the RF reader. Such a system, in which ID information (for example, bar code, two-dimensional code, or RFID) is attached to an object so that a computer identifies the ID and performs processing according to the object having the ID, has been suggested.
For example, patent document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-82107: “Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and medium”) discloses an apparatus in which an application program corresponding to a code registered in advance is started by a two-dimensional code.
Also, in an apparatus disclosed in patent document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-222433: “Information recording medium, information processing apparatus, information processing method, and a program recording medium”), data and a method of processing the data (application program starting method) are written into an optical code, the two-dimensional code is read by a code reader, and the data embedded in the code can be easily reproduced.
In a method disclosed in patent document 3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-69436: “Multimedia selecting/controlling apparatus and method of providing multimedia service”), a marker on an object is read by a scanner, and services provided through a network are switched according to the marker.
In each of the above-described known systems, identification of an ID, that is, recognition of a physical object, is used only for starting an application program and connecting to a network. That is, identification of an ID is used as a trigger for allowing a computer, in turn, to start a process.
In the above-described known arts, when a user wants to exit a currently-executed program in an information processing apparatus, such as a PC, he/she has to use a method which is not related to a physical object. That is, the user has to select an exit command from a menu or input a key for exit on a keyboard. Therefore, the user has to operate a keyboard or a mouse in order to exit a program. This method is not preferable in terms of the real-world-oriented interface, in which processing related to a physical object is performed by operating the physical object.